Hey all, sorry once again for my long absence. The last few weeks have been rough for me, but I’m hoping to have time to catch up with my games this week.
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Just checking in to say I’m still around. Big stuff going on IRL, moving family out of state, etc. Feel free to move along and I’ll catch up when I can.
That’s probably best. I’d have liked to play it out but honestly I’ve been struggling with some pretty stubborn writer’s block these last few weeks. We can just say we got to know each other better and it was an overall success. :)
Diedre and Aureum: "It wouldn't be the worst fountain I've jumped into," Aureum says, a roguish smile lighting up her face. "But, uh, that sounds great. Eating back at the ship, I mean."
She shifts her weight as Diedre looks things up on her comm unit, anxious and excited to get going.
Diedre and Aureum: Aureum arrives in the fitted black bodysuit she wore to the nightclub, with her long, turquoise hair free of its usual braid and flowing over her shoulders. Flat gold shoes give her a dressed-up look without towering over her date, and in combination with Diedre’s heels, the pair are almost the same height. She says little on the ride over, but glows pink and smiles every time they share a glance.
As they enter the puddles district, she glances around curiously at this unusual part of the station and follows Diedre to the sign. Kneeling on the edge of the fountain, she peers down into the water, trying to see to the bottom. "So we’re supposed to… Can we even...?” Sensing her date’s agitation, she hesitates, and then reaches out a nervous hand to catch Diedre’s own. ”Hey, it’s okay. We can go somewhere else if you want, but honestly, I don’t mind a bit of adventure. I just want…” She blushes. ”I just want to spend time with you.”
It’s been a crazy week and I’ve barely been at home, I am working on a post tho. ;)
Diedre:
{I'm... not sure honestly. I haven't been back there since my parents disappeared.} Aureum's mental voice is wavering, full of uncertainty. Aureum perks up when the University is mentioned, looking equal parts excited and apprehensive to return to her alma mater.
"Whatever it is, I haven't seen it before," Diedre says, her attention being drawn back to the strange characters. "Some of what we were looking at looked like control software, but control of what, we don't know." She looks to Aureum to expound more on the subject. Aureum shrugs and nods in agreement. "Nobody has seen it before. From what little I could understand, it seemed to be monitoring some other system. Something even more complex, but I don't know what."
Thanks y’all! My wife and I have evacuated from the coast and are settling into a hotel. I should have a chance to post tomorrow since it doesn’t look like I’ll have much else to do here.
Starting hurricane preparations here. It's looking like it will hit Florida this weekend. Depending on how bad it is, we may evacuate on Friday or Saturday, and even if not, internet could be out for a few days.
Aureum nods her assent. "Report to the Starfinders, and then we can go about our evenings." She glances at Diedre, smiling.
Thanks Entiren. I added Aureum's claims to the list.
Aureum exits the embassy alongside the other Starfinders, gladly retrieving her few personal items.
Aureum blushes, her heart beating a little faster at the sight of Diedre's wide blue eyes looking at her like that. She smiles and nods, trying to keep her cool. "I think so. Yes." She looks down at her own clothes, rumpled and dirty after their overnight on the Drift Rock. "I guess I'll be doing the same thing. I'll, um..." Feeling a little giddy, she grins coyly. "I'll pick you up in a few hours?"
Diedre:
{I can't wait} Aureum answers with a small smile, feeling suddenly hot despite the shuttle's cool interior.
Aureum lets Diedre do most of the talking, occasionally looking embarrassed (but pleased) when the half-elf describes her part in all this. She does speak up about the alien code when they come to it, describing what little she understood about the equipment that she believes to be designed to monitor other systems on the Drift Rock. "I've never seen anything so advanced. It was so completely alien." She leans forward, her eyes bright with curiosity. "I would love to study it further."
Aureum reaches out to give Diedre's hand a squeeze, silently thanking her for the distraction, and then tries to slip away in the opposite direction.
Her way out is quickly blocked as the throng of reporters surges forward, and the archaeologist finds herself trapped in front of the crowd. Folding her hands behind her back to keep from nervous fidgeting, she silently stands at Diedre's side and tries to look official, hoping that none of the questions will be directed specifically to her.
Aureum smiles to herself as she turns back to her console, her earlier awkwardness replaced by quiet excitement. As they approach the station, she leaves the engineering station to watch out the viewscreen, where she zeroes in on the large crowd. "Um..." She glances around at her crewmates and gestures at the crowd, then lets her hand fall to the side with a sigh of resignation. "They're here for us, aren't they?"
Aureum, intently focused on her own screen, seemingly doesn’t notice the captain approach until she begins speaking. She looks up, startled, and a blush colors her cheeks as Diedre confirms their dinner date. ”Uh,” she begins eloquently, glancing self-consciously at the others scattered around the bridge. After a beat, she composes herself and manages to look Diedre in the eye with a small smile. ”Yeah. Yes, that sounds nice.”
Operative 3! +6 HP
Operative's Edge increases to +2
Feat: Weapon Focus (Small Arms) Skills: Bluff, Engineering, Life Science, Perception, Physical Science, Profession, Sleight of Hand, Stealth, Survival
Aureum quickly averts her eyes from Diedre and Miraj and suddenly becomes very engrossed in the inner workings of her engineering station.
Aaaaand we're back! Exciting! :)
"No damsels here!" Aureum calls out, flipping switches and hurriedly adjusting dials on her console as she holds the port weapons together.
No worries, definitely still here. :)
Aureum does her thing and restores power to the aft shields.
Congrats, Jimbles! Take your time getting back into PBP, it sounds like you have a lot on your plate right now. :)
No need for me either. :)
Aureum blushes and splutters an embarrassingly incoherent reply to Diedre's compliments over the comms, all while running around the engine room and just barely managing to scrape together enough power to restore the forward shields.
Aureum quickly reroutes power to compensate for the damage to the forward shields.
Aureum maintains their higher speed, a small smile on her face as she gets the Moriko's dusty engines to hum beautifully.
Aureum continues her adjustments, pulling power from some non-essential functions to keep up their higher speed.
"Corpse Fleet. They're after whatever was in Nor's package," Aureum mutters into the comms as she makes her way to main engineering. She digs into the consoles, making some quick adjustments to coax the engines into running more efficiently after their decades-long slumber.
"Aureum Ophir, archaeologist and engineer," Aureum says to the AI, finding an out-of-the-way spot to stack the heaps of artifacts she took from the asteroid. She runs her hands over the ships consoles, and then examines the bridge's walls and windows, verifying that the Moriko is still in spaceworthy condition.
I am also all about the drama, so A sounds like great fun to me. ;) Should be able to resume more regular posting tomorrow; my birthday was on Monday and my wife and I have been busy!
I like both; Aureum is fine with whatever the group decides.
Aureum oohs and ahs at the piles of strange artifacts and picks through the nearest ones for anything particularly interesting.
Yeah, I knew I was in for a ride when they tried to diplomacize a horde of zombies.
Don't have any kids, but my wife and I recently introduced my family to D&D 5e. It's my sisters' first time playing and my parents haven't played since the early 90's. When we did character creation I really emphasized making characters with flaws and personalities that they would have fun roleplaying with, not just combat efficiency. We ended up with a party that actually prefers diplomacy over murder, and it's led to some really cool situations and a lot of emotional investment in the game. :)
Aureum brushes Diedre's shoulder as she leans down next to her to examine the alien code. "Fascinating," she breathes. "I don't think I've seen anything like this before."
Aureum pauses at the end of the hallway and casts around in the darkness, trying to catch the creature reemerging from the asteroid walls.
Aureum takes off after the others, keeping her pistol ready as she brings up the back of the group.
Aureum's breath catches with relief as Lauren hits the creature with a surge of electricity, but she doesn't let herself relax just yet, firing at it from a distance once again.
{Diedre!} Aureum cries out mentally, and darts to the side to get a better angle on the creature. She fires off a shot with the arc pistol, hoping to distract it.
Diedre: {Don't do that. We'll still... We'll get through this.} The Lashunta's mental voice comes through strongly, full of emotion, but has a quaver of uncertainty.
Aureum takes a deep breath and concentrates on her movement as she fires another shot.
Aureum darts away as the creature comes towards her, and then turns around to fire at the creepy thing.
Aureum cringes at the alien contact with her mind and keeps her pistol drawn and ready. She tries to avoid looking at the disturbing scene with the goblin laid out before them, instead keeping a suspicious eye on the room's edges as the group moves away from the walls.
Satisfied that she's discovered all she can for the moment, Aureum takes a break alongside Lauren.
"Hmm," Aureum exhales. "This is some sort of monitoring system for the rest of this complex, whatever it is. I don't recognize the language, but..." She traces the patterns on the screen in front of her. "It's new. Or old, maybe."
Diedre:
{I would like that,} Aureum says simply, giving the half-elf a small, contented smile. She continues prodding at the equipment, her expression a little brighter than just a few moments ago.
Diedre: {Oh... thanks,} Aureum says lamely, and then Diedre gets the telepathic impression of the lashunta rolling her eyes at herself. {Gods, I'm sorry. I've always been s!~! at...this.}
She takes a deep breath and seems to consider her words more carefully, her fingers tracing the flashing panels carefully as she tries to decipher both the strange symbols and her own thoughts. {I know what you mean. You are warm, and exciting, and...} Unable to put it into exact words, she telepathically projects a series of images and the feelings they evoke; the not entirely unpleasant flutter of nervousness the first time Aureum and Diedre were alone together; the heat of dancing together on Absalom; the thrill of recognizing Diedre's mind telepathically touching her own; the comfort that Diedre's presence brings to their current frightening situation. She glances nervously at the half-elf to see her reaction.
Diedre: Aureum looks up from her work, surprised. {It's okay. I didn't think anything of it,} she assures the half-elf.
As Diedre continues, she blushes deeply, trying to hide it by tinkering intently with one of the panels on the wall. Somehow, she manages to stumble over her words even telepathically. {What — What do you mean? I mean — what about me?}
Aureum conducts her own examination of the robot, and then moves on to the flashing panels and symbols.
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